MartinHafer In "Hold That Woman!" you hear the term 'skip-tracer' a lot and because it's such a seldom used term, it would be best if I explain it before getting to the review. Like the words say, this is a person that looks for someone who has skipped out of town and is in hiding. The skip-tracer can be doing this for a variety of reasons, such as bounty hunting, process serving (court notices) and, in the case of this movie, it's someone who is looking to repossess items for which the owners did not finish making payments. Making such a person the hero in your story is a bit odd to say the least.The skip-tracer in this film is Jimmy Parker (James Dunn). When out collecting a radio from a very unpleasant woman, he gets himself into trouble by breaking into her apartment. Sure, she's a crook but legally you cannot just break in to repossess the radio. The lady is very indignant and insists on pressing charges against him. But this is a ruse...she doesn't want him to have the radio because there is something hidden inside and she cannot let him have it. What is it and who else is looking for the radio?This film was made by tiny little PRC Studio--one of the crappier small-time outfits of the day. Most of their films are very forgettable--with lousy stories, directing and acting. Here, however, PRC actually created, accidentally, a decent movie which still contained a few of the usual clichés (such as the leading guy who knows MUCH more than the dopey cops). Overall, this is a mildly entertaining mystery movie--with both a bit of comedy and some gritty violence (I like the drill sequence).

Paularoc Jimmie Parker, an easy going, affable, likable guy is just not very good at his job as a skip tracer. Skip tracers either get the cash owed on a product or repossess the product and return it to the store. Parker's completion rate is very low and he is in danger of losing his job. His boss likes to point out how very good Miles Hanover (Dave O'Brien) is as a skip tracer. Given how smug and smarmy Hanover is, the audience can eagerly anticipate his being given his comeuppance by Jimmy. In addition to being a nice guy, Jimmy also has incredible good luck. In one afternoon he gets married to a beautiful woman (who is fortunately also easy going), buys a house, buys furniture, moves into the house, catches jewel thieves and helps a colleague repossess a car. There are a couple of snags along the way like getting arrested and buying the furniture from a crooked old lady who sold it (cheap) to Jimmy right before the skip tracers came for it. Somehow this convoluted plot works and is actually entertaining and a pleasant way to spend an hour.

kidboots James Dunn was a complete actor. He could play anything from crime to comedy. He first came to public notice as Eddie Collins in "Bad Girl" (1931) - a tale of the ups and downs of a young married couple in New York. After a couple of other films with the beautiful Sally Eilers, he was then teamed with cute Claire Trevor in "Jimmie and Sally" (1933). After yet another pairing with Trevor in "Baby Takes a Bow" (1934) he was then teamed with the film's star - Shirley Temple. "Hold That Woman" (1940) was made during a time when he was down on his luck and battling the bottle. Even with all his problems he still makes the film completely enjoyable. His leading lady was the beautiful Frances Gifford, who was his wife at the time.Jimmy Parker (James Dunn) is a "skip tracer" - a repossession agent. When he is given the job of repossessing a radio - things get complicated. The lady, Lulu Driscoll (Rita La Roy) refuses to relinquish it and everyone ends up at the police station. She has hidden some jewels that were stolen from a famous actress, in the back of the set. The famous actress, Corinne Hill (Anna Lisa) has problems of her own - she has just discovered that her fiancé is a thief and is mixed up in the robbery of her jewels.When Jimmie goes back to retrieve the radio, he finds Lulu has moved and all her furniture, including the radio, has gone into storage. He goes to the warehouse but the radio is not there. In the meantime he has proposed to Mary (Frances Gifford) and they go to see a widow who is selling a houseful of furniture for a song. Needless to say she is pulling a "swifty" as all her furniture is due to be repossessed!!! Everyone heads to Marble Cliff Drive where Lulu is living, along with her radio and the jewels. Miles Hanover (Dave O'Brien), the skip - tracer's "golden haired boy", goes to the house to make a deal - if Lulu hands over the jewels to him, he will leave - no questions asked. He comes to a sticky end, much to Jimmie's amusement.It was a very enjoyable film and Frances Gifford proved she was a talent sadly wasted. Recommended.

JohnHowardReid The accent is on comedy capers rather than mystery and noir in this remarkably involved yet fast-paced and light-hearted gangster yarn about stolen diamonds which a sleazy blonde has hidden in a cheap portable radio.Although this movie was made right in the middle of a down cycle in James Dunn's remarkable up-and-down movie career (he would bounce back with a vengeance in 1945 when he won universal praise for his brilliant performance under Elia Kazan's tutelage in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), it's quite an entertaining little offering, despite the actor's haggard appearance in some shots. It's also of interest to see the lovely Frances Gifford (Dunn's wife at the time) and a fine collection of support oddballs including Dave O'Brien and Rita La Roy.For once, director Neufeld/Newfield (alias Sherman Scott here) has handled the proceedings with pace and even occasional flair, making deft use of a large number of real (if not particularly picturesque) L.A. locations. The director also manages the difficult feat of balancing many disparate plot elements in an extremely complicated screenplay so neatly and with such finesse that even a backward audience can always follow the plot.Mind you, a farcical script that creates such a frantic fuss over a portable radio set that looks as if it's worth ten bucks at the most, is hardly believable. But with players like Dunn, Gifford, O'Brien and company, who cares?